Fan attachment for sewing-machines.



No. 691,340. Patented Jan. l4, I902;

G. GE EB.

FAN ATTACHMENT FOB SEWING Mommas. (Application filed Oct. 11, 1901.)

(No Model.)

' INVENTOR aeorg'e Gear UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE GEER, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO CHARLES E. BUEK, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

FAN ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 691,340, dated January 14, 1902. Application filed October 11, 1901. Serial No. 78,377. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE GEER, residing at Richmond, in the county of Henrico and State of Virginia, have invented a new and Improved Fan Attachment for Sewing-h/Iachines,

to any of the ordinary types of sewing-machines now in use without requiring any;

change of their present structure and adapted to produce a very simple and economical means capable of being placed in an operative position on the machine by any one capable of working same.

Heretofore various forms of fan attachments for the purposes above noted have been provided; but so far as I know they have been found more or less unsatisfactory, usually on account of their cost and increased power required to run the machine with the attachment, their liability of getting out of order, and the interference of some of the parts thereof with the proper starting and stopping of the machine, as also injury to the material being operated upon.

My invention especially seeks to provide an attachment capable of being made at a minimum cost in which the. several parts are correlatively arranged and each especially designed so that the said parts may be almost entirely machine-made or cast and manual labor thereon cut down to the mere assemblage of the parts only and in which the fandriving shaft may be conveniently placed into or out of mesh with the fly or balance wheel of the machine and the supports for the fan-shaft adj ustably held to permit of setting the fan at any angle or position desired and best suited for the machine-operator.

My invention, in its generic sense, comprehends a detachable clamp member adapted for quick and convenient attachment to the box or hearing for the fiy-wheel shaft pf the machine, a supporting member cooperatively joined with the clamp member rotatably mounted thereon and held for adjustment in a plane with the longitudinal axis ofthe gooseneck, a standard vertically and rotatably mounted on the supporting member, a frame portion fixedly connected to the standard, a horizontally-disposed fan-shaft and a driveshaft disposed at right angles mounted on said frame portion, the two shafts having a flexible elbow connection, a fan detachably held on the fan-shaft, and a friction or drive disk on the vertical shaft, the several parts-- the clamp, support, and shaft-frame-being detachably joined, whereby the attachment can be readily folded up in a compact form for storing or other purposes.

In its more subordinate features my invention also includes certain details of construction and peculiar combination of parts, all of which will hereinafter be fully explained, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating my invention as applied for use on the Singer type of sewing-machine. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the gooseneck part of the machine and my fan attachment. Fig.- 3 is a detail perspective view of the several parts constituting my fan attachment separated, and Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views of a modified form of clamp for attaching my fan devices to machines not adapted. to receive the type of clamp shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 6 is a detail cross-section on the line 6 6 of Fig. 1.

In its practical construction and with a view of providing for an economical manufacture of my invention the same consists, essentially, of three parts, each of which may be cast or stamped out, and said parts comprise a clamp 1, an adjustable support 2, and an adjustable fan and drive shaft carrier 3, saidthree parts being detachably connected for convenient separation for packing and other purposes hereinafter made clear.

- In the preferred form the clamp portion 1 comprises a yoke member 1, especially adapted for joining with the box or hearing portion B of the machine, in which the fly-wheel shaft is journaled when said portion B is arranged as shown in Figs. 1 and 6, which arrangement is to be found on machines of the Singer type, and to provide for conveniently, quickly, and securely connecting the yoke clamp 1 on said hearing or hub B the ends 1" 1 are made sufficiently long to extend down below said bearing B, as clearly shown in Fig. 6, and to provide for the clamp-screws 4t 4 engaging the under side of the hub or hearing B at a point below the horizontal axis thereof.

By providing a yoke-clamp of the character shown and described a simple and effective means is provided for securing my fan attachment to machines having hubs or hearing portions B of different diameters without requiring any change of the clam p further than a simple adjustment of the clamp-screws and no change whatever to the machine.

The yoke member 1, it will be noticed, extends transversely over the box B, and said member 1 is formed integral with a horizontally-disposed longitudinally-slotted arm 1, that extends forwardly in a plane with the gooseneck m and in front thereof, as shown. The support 2 is in the nature of a verticallyslotted casting,having a base 2 to seat on the slotted arm 1, and said base has a threaded aperture 2 to receive the clam p-screw 5, having a wlnged nut 5, and with which cooperates a washer 6, as shown. By this arrangement the support 2 can be moved along at will in a plane with the neck m on the slotted arm 1 to bring the fan-carrying frame, with its drive-shaft, into proper position to move the drive-disk, presently described, into frictional contact with the balance or hand wheel WV of the machine. The upper end of the support 2 terminates in a vertically-apertu red socket 2, adapted to receive the standard or pendent shank 3 of the frame 3, said socket 2 being also provided with a threaded aperture 2 to receive the clamp-screw 8 for holding the standard 3 in its proper vertical adjustments.

The frame 3 comprises the horizontally-disposed base member 3", with which the standard 3 is joined or formed as an integral part thereof, the front end of which ends in a vertical arm 3, while the rear end merges with a vertical member 3 that extends a short dis tance above and a greater distance below the member 3 and the upper part of said member 3 terminates in a bifurcated bracket having a vertical bearings: and a horizontal hearing y, the reason for which will presently appear. The lower end of the member 3 is also formed with a horizontal bracket .2, projected in a vertical plane with the bracket 02.

The drive-shaft in my construction of fan attachment consists of a vertical section 6, journaled in the bearings 00 and 2, and a horizontal section 6", journaled in the bearing y, and a bearing 3 in the upper end of arm 3, and the adjacent ends of the two shaft-sections are joined by the flexible or spiral-spring elbow in any Well-known manner, whereby the rotary motion to shaft-section 6 is imparted therethrough to the shaft-section 6".

On the lower end of shaft-section 6 is fixedly held a friction-disk 8, having an annulus of yielding material adapted to be brought into frictional contact with the handwheel W of the machine, and 9 designates a propeller-shaped fan secured upon the outer end of shaft-section 6", the several blades of which may be detachably fitted on the hub 6 by a clamp-screw 10 or in any other desired manner.

Some machines, especially those of the Wilson type, have no hub or hearing projection for the fly-wheel shaft, as shown in Fig. 1, and the clamp shown in Fig. l is therefore not applicable for such machines, and for sustaining the fan holding and operating devices on machines not equipped with the box or hearing portion B, I employa yoke in the nature of a cuif 11, formed of two hinged sections adapted to extend over the gooseneck and made fast by the clamp-screw 12, that cooperates with lugs 11, one of which has a smooth aperture and the other a threaded aperture. This latter form of clamp may also be provided with a slotted arm 1, if desired, or with an apertured hub, as indicated by 13, to receive the shank of the fanshaft-holding frame.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it is thought the advantages of my invention and the manner-0f its operation will be readily understood.

I am aware that fan attachments have been provided in which means are included for moving the friction-disk to or from the hand or balance wheel and for holding the fan at different angles, and I broadly make no claim for such features. My invention differentiates, so far as I know, from what has heretofore been provided in devices of this kind in the peculiar correlation of the means for clamping the attachment on the machine and rotatably and longitudinally adjustable supporting member, whereby to set the fan-shaft, with the carrier-frame, at the proper angle to the gooseneck to bring the drive-disk into proper position to engage the balance-wheel in such manner and at such point as not to interfere with its movement or project anything in the way of the goods being sewed or the opera tors hands when manipulating the band or balance wheel in starting or stopping the machine, and especially does my invention differ from prior devices in the peculiar detailed formation of the several parts, whereby they can be made up at a minimum cost and in such shape as to permit of their ready fitting or finishing by unskilled labor.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Pat ent, is-- 1. In an attachment of the character stated, the combination with the machine-gooseneck and the balance-wheel; of a carrier-frame supported on the gooseneck, said frame having adjustment lengthwise of the gooseneck, and to swing in a horizontal plane at an angle to said gooseneck, a rotary fan and I fan- IIO shaft mounted on the carrier, said shaft having a gear to engage the balance-wheel of the machine, substantially as shown and for the purposes described,

2. A fan attachment, comprising a clamp having a slotted arm adapted to project in a longitudinal plane with the sewing-machine head, when attached thereto, a standard having a socket adjustably mounted on the aforesaid slotted arm, a fan-carrier frame, having a pendent shank vertically and rotatably-adjustablejon the standard, the fan-shaft, and the means connected with said shaft, and adapted to engage the balance-wheel of the machine, for the purposes described.

3. The combination with a sewing-machine head, and its balance-Wheel; of a rotary fan supported 011 the machine-head to rock in a horizontal plane to bring the fan-shaft at a desired angle to the head, a support for the fan, said support including means for holding the fan at diderent elevations, said rotary fan including a fan-shaft and a friction-disk on the shaft for engaging the balance-wheel, all being arranged substantially as shown and for the purposes described.

at. The combination with the yoke-clamp 1, having a horizontal slotted arm 1, and the support 2, longitudinally adjustable on the arm 1, said support having an apertured head 2; of the frame 3 having a pendent rod 3, to engage the apertured head 2, said frame having shaft-bearings, the fan-shaft and fan, said shaft having a friction-disk to engage the balance-wheel, all being arranged substantially as shown and described.

5. The combination with a clamping member adapted to be secured to the machinehead adjacent its balance-wheel; of a carrierframe, said frameincluding a pendent shank rotatably and vertically adjustable on the clamping member, ings and horizontal bearings,

and having vertical beara drive-shaft formed of a horizontal portion journaled in the vertical bearings, a vertical portion, journaled in the horizontal bearings,and a flexi ble section joining the two shaft portions, a friction-disk on the vertical shaft portion, and a fan on the horizontal shaft portion, all being arranged substantially as shown and for the purposes described.

6. As a new article of manufacture, a fan attachment for sewing-machines, comprising in combination, an inverted- U -shaped clamping member 1, having a horizontal slotted arm 1, the support 2, having a clampingsocket 2, at the upper end, and clamping de vices for adjustably securing its lower end on the slotted arm 1, the frame 3, said frame consisting of a horizontal member 3, having a vertical extension 3, at one end, a bifurcated vertical extension, and a pendent portion 3, at the other end, the bifurcated extension and portion 3, having shaft-bearings ya; and z, the member 3 having a bearing 3 the fan, the shaft-sections 76 and 6 and the flexible joint 7, said frame 3, also having a pendent shank 3, all being arranged substantially as shown and for the purposes de+ scribed.

7. In a fan attachment for sewing machines, a clamp member comprising a yokepiece adapted to freely seat over the hub or box of the tended to project below the said box or hub, and opposing clamp-screws on said ends, for engaging the hub or box at points below the horizontal axis thereof, said yoke having a member that forms a support for the fan holding and driving mechanism, substantially as shown and described.

GEORGE GEER.

Witnesses:

H. W. GooDWYN, STEPHEN JOHNSON.

fly-wheel shaft, with its ends ex-' 

